Swiss Re Wins Taiwan License Go-Ahead

Swiss Re today has been granted permission by the Taiwan Ministry of Finance to begin the licensing process for a branch office in Taiwan.

The Swiss Re branch will be located in Taipei and is expected to be fully operational before the end of 2004. It will provide comprehensive reinsurance services to clients throughout Taiwan in the property and casualty as well as life and health sectors.

Judith Chen, who will become general manager of the new branch, joined Swiss Re in 2000 and has been in the financial services industry since the 1980s. She will also lead the non-life business in Taiwan, reporting to Head of Property & Casualty for Greater China, Franz Josef Hahn.

Poh Chee Kok will head the life and health business in Taiwan, reporting to the head of life and health for the China region, Danny Chung. Poh, an actuary by training, has been with Swiss Re since 1994 and has previously held senior positions in Swiss Re Singapore and Hong Kong.

Hahn called the development “a major step for Swiss Re in this important market”. Taiwan is the fourth largest insurance market in Asia measured by premium income.

Commenting on the implications for Swiss Re’s life business, Chung said, “Taiwan is one of Asia’s fastest-growing life insurance markets, and we expect this license to become a catalyst for deepening and expanding our relationships with Taiwan’s highly innovative life insurance clients.”

Studies by Swiss Re Economic Research & Consulting show a strong growth potential in Taiwan’s insurance market, with the life and non-life insurance industries continuing to experience inflation adjusted growth above 4% per annum, from 2004 to 2013.

Swiss Re opened a liaison office in Taipei in 1995, which currently employs 17 people. Swiss Re has been associated with Asia since 1913, and now has over more than 600 staff in 13 offices in Asia Pacific.

Topics Swiss Re